Arts & Entertainment

Best Folk Artist St. Louis 2007 - Colin Blair

At 29 years old, Colin Blair has established himself as one of the most skilled fiddle players in St. Louis. Though he started on the devil's box at a relatively old age (nineteen), he learned deep in the Ozarks, in the lamp-lit shack of Banjo Billy Mathews, one of the legends of Arkansas old-time music. Blair can play fast and raw or smooth and soulful, and though he doesn't have a steady band at the moment, he's putting together an eclectic ensemble that will draw on anything recorded for 78 rpm. The best place to hear him is down at Music Folk (8015 Big Bend Boulevard, Webster Groves 63119; 314-961-2838), where he works as a repairman and sales rep. Drop by, say howdy and ask him to saw a tune. That's the way the old-timers do it.